#keyleth x vex x zahra

[annemarieyeretzian]

The Legend of Vox Machina S02E03: The Sunken Tomb ★

[tepkunset]

What are your thoughts on shipping within TLOVM/Critical Role Campaign 1?

In terms of what I like -

Percy x Vex

Vex x Keyleth

Keyleth x Vax

Vax x Percy

Zahra x Vex

Vax x Gilmore

In terms of what I don't like - not a fan of Scanlan x Pike tbh. She can do so much better.

[walkthegale]

Rating: Explicit Category: F/F Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Relationships: Keyleth/Vex'ahlia/Zahra Hydris, Keyleth/Vex'ahlia, Zahra Hydris/Keyleth, Zahra Hydris/Vex'ahlia Additional Tags: Femslash, Polyamory, Threesome - F/F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Lesbian Sex, Alcohol, Tails Words: 1,335 Summary: “I just… Do we even deserve happiness, you know? Does anyone?”

Keyleth is struggling. Vex and Zahra want to help.

For @critrolefemslash‘s Critical Role Femslash Week 2019, Day 7: Prompt 1, Happy Ending

[pocketgalaxies]

keyleth: who wants to see my hometown you guys!! :DD

scanlan: ehhhhh

keyleth: okay i wasn’t looking at you, scanlan

vax: i do.

keyleth: yeah?? okay! i can show you where i went to school!!

zahra: ...keyleth we need to get back here as soon as possible.

keyleth: yeah no no no no.

kash: you went to school?

[bloodyshadow1]

so I’m missing crfemslashweek the last day because I have a headache, you guys will have to wait a day or so for my fic about Vex and Zahra domming Keyleth. 

[thegoldenlocks]

a collection of art requests that i have been slowly acquiring over the past few months!! featuring a lot of grog and keyleth apparently

[justalittlebluetiefling]

001: Critical Role, specifically Campaign 1, if you haven't seen cr1 then 2 and/or 3

002: Beau/Jester

003: Ashton Greymoore

(hey I just realized I did that in campaign order)

This got long, so if anyone doesn't want to read it all, but if you want to join in the fun with an ask, here's a link to the list. I'm going to put this under the cut, too, because like I said. It got long.

001 | Critical Role Campaign 1

Favorite character: Dude, I always say Keyleth as like, a gut reaction. But when I talk about this campaign, I never shut up about Scanlan.

Least Favorite character: Sorry everyone, but Percy. (Fun fact, I was worried I didn't vibe with Tal, because I also didn't like Molly, but then he came in with Cad and I loved him, so fears averted.)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Vaxleth, Grogleth, Pikelan, Vex x Zahra, Vexleth

Character I find most attractive: Vex'ahlia. Obviously.

Character I would marry: Pike

Character I would be best friends with: Keyleth

a random thought: This has been talked about lately, but I think people are really missing out when they skip the Kraghammer arc.

An unpopular opinion: Taliesin said less people should like Percy because he's such an asshole and I agree with him. (Listen, I think Percy is ultimately interesting as a character, he just isn't the kind of asshole I vibe with.)

My Canon OTP: Vaxleth

My Non-canon OTP: Grogleth

Most Badass Character: Keyleth

Most Epic Villain: I want to say the Briarwoods, because I love them, but I'll be honest and say Raishan.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Again, I'm sorry, but Perc'ahlia.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I don't think this question can apply, because it's an actual play show, therefore no writers. It would be funnier if I named someone.

Favourite Friendship: Too many??? I guess I'll pick Grog and Keyleth though, since I should probably pick one.

Character I most identify with: Keyleth

Character I wish I could be: Pike

002 | Beau / Jester

When I started shipping them: I actually never did. This is one of those pairings that fanon/fandom kind of ruined for me before I could get into it.

My thoughts: I like the concept of them, but again, like I said above. A lot of louder fandom opinions about them turned me off to them.

What makes me happy about them: I love how much they love each other and support each other. Roommates era is top notch. Their hug after the first dragon fight was very good.

What makes me sad about them: Tbh the (mostly) unrequited feelings in this pairing was very good and very angsty and it was sad.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: I don't read a ton of CR fic, but in general, I will say that fic that continues to infantilize Jester is an instant close.

Things I look for in fanfic: n/a

My wishlist: In general, and I'm talking canon, I know they talk all the time because Jester has sending, so I feel pretty good about that. My hope is that they get to retire near each other one day. And I know they still go on adventures together once in a while.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I'm very happy with their canon pairings.

My happily ever after for them: As a ship? It's hard for me to picture a happily ever after better than what they got. BUT. I think that I could see them both as pirates on Fjord's ship. I know Jester would be all about helping Beau root out corruption, but she's too much of a wanderer and loves the ocean too much to keep herself inland for too long.

003 | Ashton Greymoore

How I feel about this character: Great! I think they're very cool and I'm really enjoying the slow reveal of their past and how tied into history it seems to be.

Any/all the people I ship romantically with this character: Fearne, Laudna. Tbh I could be swayed to anyone for them right now.

My favorite non-romantic relationship for this character: Imogen, FCG

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't think I have any unpopular opinions right now.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: God, I want all their backstory. I want ALL THE NOTES. Mostly, I want to know what the little dunamis pocket is inside their head. I don't know what else to call it, but that seems right for now.

Favorite friendship for this character: FCG

My crossover ship: Honestly, not romantic, but I think Ashton and Grog would have so much fun fucking shit up together.

[alicequinn]

who are your cr ships besides percyvex??

:) hi, hi. i honestly have been pretty chilled on ships beyond percyvex because it’s such a rare predicament for the characters to essentially be ocs guided by the player’s personal tastes (despite it being a show for profit and consumption). which is to say... the cr fandom drama gets too personal re: ships for me and i’m honestly happy to see my favorite actors be happy while pursuing whatever ships they like, even if i dislike said ship. but:

allura x lady kima

beau x yasha

fjord x jester

vex x keyleth

vex x zahra

vax x gilmore

percy x taryon

vex x percy x taryon

probably more i’m forgetting w/ npcs & guest characters

[elasticella]

eeee my favorite game!! 22 + 99 and vex/zahra (feel free to sub a different ship choosing is so hard dhshaj)

for the trope mash up meme

22. space au & 99. magical accidents

okay! i love this premise and ship am still super behind & am slightly tipsy from tonight’s dinner wine, so this is gonna be Something X) off the bat i’m imagining something v star trek-y, like the vox machina flying around to different planets and helping the underdogs & defeating great evil (dragons- aw dude, space dragons would be Epic and terrifying af) 

so! keyleth is testing out a new spell, for “heightened situational experiences” which sounds like great and battle applicable and vex agrees to be the tester, only darling keyleth mistranslated, and it’s actually for “heightened situational experiences with your lover” and apparently magic considers her and zahra lovers just because they made out like a bunch after killing that evil space dragon (it was amazing to be alive and in a pool overlooking the two moons cresting!! totally could have happened to Anyone, vex insists) so the spell creates like a weak bond, that can be ignored, it’s like a persistent mosquito that keeps landing on her back just where she can’t reach reminding her how pretty zahra’s horns are, or how smart she is, or how great she is with her staff, or how they made out that one time and why hasn’t it happened again? why isn’t it happening right now? 

vex naturally resists the magical impulses, because who knows how much is magic, and what if the spell is actually evil? like keyleth, bless her soul, already mistranslated one bit, what if there’s more?? anyways, all the angsting and pining, and eventually vex complains to keyleth about how the spell lasts over days and keyleth is like ‘?? that wore off after an hour’ & keyleth is v amused upon realizing what happened, and happily has an excellent speech for when vex and zahra decide to wed *confetti*

[beff-jezos]

how bangable are the members of vox machina

(+ a few other PC’s/NPC’s)

bc i’m bored and stressed and talks machina won’t be on i’m taking a page out of @taye-x‘s book and this is all her fault blame her i swear (anyways this totally seems like The Best Idea so let’s goooo)

Vax’ildan oh dear Sarenrae this boy child,,,, you really would expect him to be fucking great at sex?? he’s got this rogue, thief, bad-boy thing going on that you’re pretty sure your parents wouldn’t approve of  and he constantly jokes about how kinky he is but let’s be real?? he’s super emotional and constantly monologuing and if y’all fucked he would probably wax shitty poetic about how the stars aligned for your very coupling and the world tilted on its axis when you came together?? probably ends up crying while y’all are together really good at fixing your hair afterwards though (not that it really got that messed up to be fair) 2/10

Vex’ahlia she will literally rock your world?? probably knows more sex positions than you, is definitely into That Kind Of Stuff, usually a dom but is willing to switch like you would never want anyone else ever again and the life affirming sex is gr8 tbh probably disappears the next day though (taking off points for the daddy issues that she refuses to talk about) 9/10

Keyleth just as bad as vax??? she is clumsy and awkward and doesn’t exactly know where to touch or what to do?? it would be endearing but like she’s just so unlucky and uncoordinated that she would probably end up breaking something of yours also the dirty talk is nonexistent and she will definitely end up talking about a tree that she went through one time and how it was the most amazing experience because she talked to the tree and he talked back (or will find a lava river to face plant into) 2/10

Pike is actually a monstah like you would never really expect it from the angelic look of her and her gentle touch when she heals you but ooooh buddy she learned Lots of Things™ while she was at sea and she would love to use them on you and that strength is useful for a hell of a Lot of Things™ and all I’m saying is that after everything is said and done she’s probably totally up for cuddles and amazing aftercare 10/10

Grog as much as i would love to hype up grog’s sexual prowess i’m pretty sure that he’s never seen a bath (like for real can we get a crit role stats tracking how many times he’s taken one) and his junk is Nasty he’s probably usually pretty good at the dirty (though that’s debatable bc the only time we’ve had confirmation of him doing the dirty is lady favors akak the real MVPs) but there’s probably still like Silas and Vorugal bits near there -5/10

Percy did you see the way that little self absorbed prick responded when vex showed up at the door naked?? he had probably had sex like once or twice previously bc he was too focused on revenge for his dead family he’s young and inexperienced and honestly a kind of a prick? totally prepped by asking his friends what to do and will probably be done so quickly (on the flip side though if he does eventually get enough practice he is a tinkerer that is really good with his hands so just stick with him he’ll get better in more ways than one eventually) if you’re lucky you might end up having interrupted bath sex and having to hold your breath underwater hiding from your twin brother who is also in the bath and is very naked 4/10

Scanlan what to say about shorthalt on one hand you’ve got the fact that he’s been through most of Tal’Dorei so like he’s gotta be at least somewhat good (nevermind the magic side of that) but he’s been through most of Tal’Dorei so it’s like russian roulette on whether you want whatever magic STD that he most likely has and whether you want to be That Person going into the temple of Sarenrae to get Greater Restoration for it (just make sure to ask him about his mom that was killed by goblins before though just in case) 7/10

Lyra will definitely call you Aldor the entire time 5/10

Kashaw would be hot and great if immediately afterwards you wouldn’t have his evil dark goddess wife coming for you?? 3/10

Zahra around the same as Vex honestly it would be wonderful and there would definitely be some tail stuff and it would probably be one of the best experiences ever in your life but it would probably end up being a casual thing for one time only 9/10

Shaun there are no words needed for this ∞/∞

Allura and Kima let’s be real they’re totally a package deal and also no other words are necessary ∞/∞

Cassandra a bit awkward and nervous but never to the extent of Keyleth not very experienced but super devoted to any task while she’s not that great in bed she makes up for it by being an amazing wonderful human being that deserves so much better than to have to pick up the pieces of Whitestone that is inevitably left behind everytime vox machina feels the need to dash through and listen alright she is struggling like what the nine hells do you want her to do with two aasimar children fucking bahamut percy you’re dead again what do you wANT FROM ME I AM TRYING SO HA- 6/10

[eponymous-rose]

Vex’ahlia Appreciation Post

I don't know if I'm cut out to be a hero. You already are. I don't know about that. Just live in the moment. Don't worry about it right now. Maybe there's another time and place where we don't have to, but right now I feel like we do... Keyleth, we're in a mansion right now. Fucking cannonball!

[x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x][x]

[other gifsets and appreciation posts]

[ruthdemoofins]

Near Loss - Perc’ahlia ficlet - SPOILERS FOR EP. 80

Percy has a panic attack after the battle with Raishan. Spoilers for ep. 80.         I’ve always appreciated that Taliesin plays Percy realistically to the point of having panic attacks and though I’m not sure he would’ve chosen for Percy to have one after nearly losing Vex, I wanted to write it out because d a m n I love angst.

Read on AO3: (X)

Gone.

Gone again.

Percy’s nightmares entailed of this; of Vex’ahlia, dead before Thordak, dead before Raishan, dead before the Briarwoods, dead before a multitude of creatures that have haunted him over the years.

For a moment, he finds himself baffled that each time this has happened to any of their party, things seemed to truly slow down.

This time, she’d collapsed and every fiber of his being screamed for him to go to her.

Her body rippled in his view from the pure intensity of the room’s heat. She was listless, looking like a discarded doll, in the same way she’d looked before.

Before.

Thatwasyourfaultthatwasyourfaultthatwasyourfaultthatwasyourfault.

He’d had a plan before this, intended upon shooting Raishan’s eggs to disrupt whatever purpose they had but now, now…

He knew that if Orthax still resided within him, the smoke would have engulfed him long ago. Perhaps it would’ve coalesced into a dragon of his own, perhaps, if he had kept Orthax, this would have never happened.

His body gave a short jerk, his heart ached and with little control (he was not one to act upon passion; he acted upon methodical impulse) and much aggression, he roared as he shot for Raishan.

You bitch. You won’t take her from me.

I’ve lost her once already.

He recalls that precious breath of life she’d taken the last time, the dazzling smile upon her lips, so much different than the previous, pale grimace.

I’ve lost myself, mind-

He recalls the press of hand around his, imploring for him to remove his mask. He recalls how clear it was after the smoke was gone, how clear it was that he fiercely loved her.

-and body.

He remembers death, remembers that his final thoughts had been something along the lines of: “Not now.”

Flashes of their kiss amid the snow-capped forest, of her body, her touch, the feeling of being one the previous night flooded his mind in a rapid succession, and for a brief moment, he couldn’t breathe.

But still, he held fast, knowing she would do the same for him.

Vex rose, and Scanlan fell.

In fact, nearly all of them fell, save for him (he wondered if someday, they would all laugh at how they toppled like blocks).

Raishan was gone, and so was Thordak’s body along with two of the eggs they hadn’t managed to destroy.

They emerged from the hole in the ground much like duergar, squinting at the sky, ashen-faced.

Percival stood back as he watched the others, watched Grog hug Pike and Scanlan to him in either arm in a viciously loving squeeze, watched Vax console Keyleth as she spoke rapidly with a guilt-ridden expression, watched Kima glare towards the sky while Gilmore smoothed back his hair.

“Oh, buddy, I’m so sorry!”

He turned his gaze to Vex at her sudden, thick-voiced declaration. She held Trinket around the neck with a grip that he doubted Raishan could break, her hands clenched into his fur.

Trinket looked to him and for a moment, he knew that the bear understood that she needed that hug more than he needed the hug from her.

For a moment, Percy wondered if this time, it was different for her, if perhaps, this time, she felt less triumphant and more afraid.

She’d died.

The reminder seeped up into the back of his throat in the form of bile and suddenly, the heat of Thordak’s outer lair seemed to be drowning him alive.

He could hardly hear any of the voices around him, couldn’t think past anything but Vex, dead, and his inability to breathe. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with a grimy finger and briskly walked away.

Faintly, he heard Vex call for him, but he kept walking. He needed away.

As he walked, self-loathing swarmed.

He was a complete child, stamping off from their friends because of a fit of panic.

Never had he seen something like this happen to Grog, to Vax.

He was weak.

He should be comforting Vex, not requiring comfort.

The image of Vex’s body lifted into his mind once more and he stopped in his tracks, reaching up with a trembling hand to touch his temple, to will the thoughts to end.

She’saliveshe’saliveshe’salive-

Shediedshediedshediedshe-

“Percival.”

Vex'ahlia’s voice cut through his booming thoughts and immediately, they dissipated.

He glanced up in time to see the faint, hesitant smile on her lips disappear.

He was only hurting her. He was selfish. Horrible. Deplorab-

“You’re crying,” Vex softly breathed, her brow suddenly knitting in confusion.

Her confusion was enough for him to willingly allow a tear to slide down his dirty face. She wasn’t used to people beyond her brother caring so deeply, just like him. Even after the first time she died, after the tears shed from Keyleth, Pike, Vax…she still didn’t understand her value.

He opened and shut his mouth a few times, his body feeling horribly cold, despite the heat.

“Please, say something,” Vex pleaded, worriment replacing the reverent incredulity in her eyes.

Percy shifted his shaking hand to the one of the temples of his spectacles, failing miserably at gripping onto the thin wire to try to remove his spectacles.

“Here,” her voice soothed over his confused, mostly hurt emotions like a balm, her warm, warm hand pressing lightly against his for a moment to shift it away so she could remove his spectacles with either hand gripping them by the frame.

She carefully folded them and tucked them in a pocket of his jacket before she looked to him. “Everything is fucked up in the long run, but for now…things are fine,” she insisted, squaring her shoulders a bit, trying to appear confident. He didn’t miss the glimmer of hesitation in her eyes, though. “Percival, do you really think after our previous talks, our kisses, our…everything…that I’d let anyone take me from you again or take you from me?”

And all at once, he broke. His body jolted with soft, compressed sobs, his knees buckling beneath him. His family. His siblings. His parents. He’d only just learned, from his own death, to let her in, to stop feeling worried that he’d bring ruin by loving her only for this to happen.

“T-T-That’s the very thing,” he quickly stammered out, unable to fully inhale, unable to even understand what he was feeling right now. “I did lose you again, Vex’ahlia,” full of self-loathing, he swiped his arm across his damp face taking a shallow, shaking breath as he struggled to cease the emotion.

Vex stood still for a moment, swallowing hard before she sank to her knees in front of him and roughly grabbed his shoulders, all but slamming him against her as she held him tightly, so tightly.

“Gods be fucking damned, Percy, I’m not going anywhere, ever. Nor are you,” she fiercely grit out, her breath tickling his ear. “We’ve come too far and we’ll face the fucking sun if we must, but I’m not letting either of us die,” she drew back, disappointment bubbling in his chest as she slid her arms from him, but vanishing once they cupped his face, “Do you hear me, Percival? Fuck death.”

Her hands are warm as they hold his face and slowly, he takes a steady, calm breath. “Fuck death,” he somberly agrees, eyes lolling shut as she strokes a hand through his sweat-drenched hair.

Percy feels completely and horribly guilty, grinding his teeth for a moment before he’s standing, glaring down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I-I’m horribly selfish to have reacted like that.”

Vex, being Vex, rolled her eyes, standing with a wince. With little hesitation, she punched him in the gut. Percy gave a grunt in response, staggering back a step before looking to her with incredulous eyes.

“If you apologize one more time I’ll aim lower,” she warned, eyes flaring.

For the first time in what felt like decades, Percy managed a smile, “Yes ma’am,” he says with a slight bow.

A cheshire grin worked its way upon Vex’s lips as she reaches out to grip the lapels of his jacket, drawing him in for a kiss.

It’s a kiss that completely fills his lungs with peace, one that starts off soft, but turns into something desperate, scared, needy.

“Jesus, we could’ve died and you’re doing…this?”

Percy drew back, cheeks tinged pink beneath the grime as he spotted Kashaw stepping over some nearby rubble, Zahra in tow with a grin and a chipped horn.

There is no witty comeback from Vex as she all but throws herself at Zahra, babbling on about how grateful she was for her arrow (despite the failed use of the other).

Slowly, Percy pulled his glasses from his pocket and pushed them on, looking around at the disarray with clarity and taking a slow breath.

He glanced over his shoulder at the others in the distance before returning his gaze to Vex, who’s enveloped in a tight squeeze from Zahra.

Percival jolted as he felt a hard nudge to his hip, nearly toppling over.

He glanced behind him, and then down, to find Trinket, sitting with an expectant look in his eyes.

“Do you expect me to hug you as well?” Percy slowly questioned, to which Trinket wuffed.

“That would be horribly undignified of me,” he countered, but slowly, he sat beside Trinket in the rubble, resting a hand upon his side as both watched Vex, animatedly catching Kashaw and Zahra up on their current situation.

“Fuck death,” Percy said, his shoulders relaxing as he watched her, so energetic, so alive.

Trinket boofed in agreement before resting his head atop Percival’s.

[ruthdemoofins]

Cor Tutor - Chapter 1/? - Perc’ahlia

When Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third agrees to tutor a student for Professor Hydris’ statistics course, the last thing he expects to find is a witty, stubborn woman who’s not only completely intriguing on her own, but also has a handful of strange friends, including a giant bear and a terrifyingly protective older brother. Least of all, the last thing he expected was to find that she was the woman who’d approached him on the street the previous day, proclaiming him to be her boyfriend in front of her obsessive stalker, a man named Saundor.

Read on AO3: (X)

“I’m not meant to be here, brother. I should be out in those woods with Trinket, free as a bird,” her singsong voice and jazz hands only draw a groan from behind her. The skilled, brotherly hands braiding her hair grip into her locks and give a tug that evokes a yelp from Vex’ahlia. “Dick,” she mutters, crossing her arms tightly over her midriff in an ever-so-adult-like manner.

Vax'ildan only sighed, pursing his lips lightly, “When Syldor sent us here, he didn’t give a fuck what we made of ourselves, Vex’ahlia,” she cringes at the mention of their father, “He wanted us as far the fuck away from his new, perfect family as he could and I’m sure the last thing he expected us to do was get here, or at least, get you here.”

Admittedly, in the beginning, finding the footholds to attend university had been rough.  Vex and Vax had certainly made do with the deft hands they were born with, only running into the authorities on a few occasions. It’d taken a few years of hard (and often, illegal) work for them to find enough money to buy Vex'ahlia a place within the college and live a decently comfortable life in the meantime. They’d made do with the shitty financial aid offered to them and tried to ignore the fact that Syldor (the fuckhead) could’ve afforded to place them both within the university. Shitty fathers aside, Vex and Vax had rejoiced that they had the chance to make something of at least one of them, as one’s success was a shared happiness between the twins.

She’d always wanted to become a park ranger, ever since she was young. Vex'ahlia always wanted to protect the land that she’d grown up on, the rocks she’d scraped her knees on, the trees she’d learned to climb bare-footed. Most of all, she wanted to protect Trinket, but she’d never expected that she’d be sitting with goddamn statistics homework in front of her. She was studying environmental sciences, she should be in the sciences, not in complete duress over the mishmash of numbers and figures on the pages in front of her.

While, yes, Vex did quite enjoy Professor Hydris as a person and would love to get her completely head-over-heels wasted sometime, she did not enjoy the way she drew up horrifyingly confusing equations on the board. She definitely did not enjoy how most of the class seemed to understand it, while she struggled to resist the urge to flip her desk and scream.

“I don’t get it, brother. What the everloving fuck does this have to do with nature? It’s not like I’m going to be counting birds or some bullshit like that,” she moans, woefully passing the elastic band from her wrist to her brother as he gives her newly crafted braid a tug.

“Dunno,” he shrugs, quickly tying off her hair. He expertly hops to his feet, walking across the living-room/kitchen/bedroom of their small, shared flat to check his mobile. “What I do know is that Shaun’s expecting me and I don’t want to be late,” he tells her, rolling his eyes as her face furls in delight at the mention of Shaun. “Oh, Gilmore,” she sighs dreamily, resting her cheek against her clasped hands as she bats her lashes. “Of course you can’t leave Gilmore waiting, can you?” she coos, haphazardly nudging her statistics book away from her with her foot.

“Drop the shit, Stubby,” Vax’ildan huffs, jerking on his black pea-coat (the coat is so sulky and moody; completely perfect for Vax, in her opinion), “It’s work. Don’t fuck around with school, okay? You’ll work it out. You’re fucking stubborn, but you’re smart,” he walks over and leans down to press a kiss upon Vex’s head. “Try tutoring or some shit, yeah? They offer it for free. You know how we feel about freebies.”

Vex hides a smile under her hand as she rubs her nose, nodding compliantly, “Free shit is always good. Get out of here, give your boyfriend a kiss for me, all right?”

Vax stiffens at that, pausing to flick her forehead with his forefinger before expertly dancing away from the rebutting swing of her fist. He grabs the keys to his bike-chain and gives them twirl, shooting Vex a stern glare, “He’s not my boyfriend, twit.”

“Oh, is it Keyleth now? You’re so adorably bi, brother,” Vex grins ear to ear as her brother manages to cringe down into his jacket, so hesitant to talk about his relationships with her, his sister. The travesty of it all!

“What it is isn’t your goddamn business, yeah?” he shoots her a wide-eyed look of faux-annoyance (or maybe it is real, she doesn’t know)  before he’s out the door, leaving her to her misery.

Gilmore’s her favorite, really. When they were barely scraping by on the little money Syldor left them, literally taking free-samples from the grocery store for fucking dinner, Gilmore found her brother, offered him work. Of course, it wasn’t all entirely legal, but Gilmore was known for his merchandise, entirely legal or not. Though he acted it, the man wasn’t much older than them as it was (Vex'ahlia was quite the elderly junior), and he was glorious, as marketed. His sonorous tone and grand motions always had her on her toes, and not to mention the way he could make Vax blush. It was all too good.

He’d kept Vex doing some “recon work” for him, as he called it, but every so often, she’d tag along with her brother. They were always at their best when they worked together, but Vax had gone solo after she’d been dragged into uni.

She didn’t regret it, though, the uni part. She did, however, feel a horrible amount of guilt for Vax’ildan’s sacrifice. He claimed it made him happy, that their mum would’ve wanted this, but it was at his expense, really.

She knew Vax wasn’t a college kid, knew he’d get sick of all the curriculum bullshit and the pushing, but he did seem happy to be working for Gilmore, seemed happy to be around her friends from school (especially Keyleth).

Reverie wasn’t going to finish this horrible studying, though. With a grumble, Vex’ahlia flipped open her well-worn, brick of a laptop, pulling up her statistic class’s homepage to inquire about tutoring.

She fucking hated the idea of it, but at this point, the book seemed to be in an entire different language and she wasn’t going to waste Vax’s money on a shit semester.

On the bright side, it gave her the chance to communicate with the one and only Zahra Hydris (they would totally be best friends by the end of the semester).

“Percy, darling?”

Pervical Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo the Third, jerked his head up from the book he’d been devouring (mentally, of course), feeling a lurch of impending doom as he spotted Professor Hydris at the edge of the table he occupied.

This certainly wasn’t going to be good. Not only had Zahra found him outside of class hours, but she’d found him in his secluded corner of the library with a smile on her face that was anything but hopeful for him. Still, he wasn’t entirely sure he’d ever seen a smile on Professor Hydris’ face that offered any form of good fortune. She was the type of woman whom held a smile that was more of a baring of teeth, not exactly friendly, not exactly promising. He recalled freshmen spreading rumors that she’d had her incisors sharpened on purpose, though Zahra probably started that rumor herself.

She did love to terrify freshmen and Percy couldn’t object to that particular practice.

“Can I help you, Professor Hydris?” Mentally, he sorted through what he’s done lately. He was flying through her Research Methods course with bravado, he hadn’t fallen asleep in the student lounge for thirty-four hours since last year (he’d not slept an entire three days from working on studies of his own and studies for school before that particular hibernation) and he certainly hadn’t started a fire in the science center’s lab since freshman year.

Zahra’s smile eases up a bit at the hesitation in his voice, planting one hand on his occupied table and the other on her hip, “Remember when I said I’d forget that you fell asleep in class if you’d tutor for me in the beginning of the semester?” she questions.

“…Yes.”

“Remember when I said I’d probably never need to use you as a tutor anyway, so it was a…gracious deal…?” she winced lightly.

Ah.

Percy didn’t even remember how she’d convinced him into that in the first place. The idea of holding the slimmest chance of tutoring someone, someone who was entirely capable of being an asshole…How had she convinced him into that, anyway? She’d probably humbled him to the point of accepting without even quite realizing, damn her.

She takes his pause as the opportunity to continue, giving a soft huff of amusement, “It appears our patron-saint of tutoring is absolutely swamped,” Professor Hydris tuts softly, momentarily glancing about, probably for freshmen to terrify (they do call her the Dragon for a reason), before returning her piercing blue eyes to Percy. “Anyway, on top of her normal studies, Miss Trickfoot is well over her head with students to tutor and I was hoping you could take on just one student for me?” again, she winces lightly as she asks this, as if she understands the sacrifice it’ll require for him to actually mentor someone.

Percy does have plenty of free time this semester, admittedly. Enough for him to tinker, at least. The idea of mentoring a stranger, a potential asshole, spikes his nerves, but still, if it means he’s on her good side, it means he could get away with a few more naps after sleep-deprived nights of plotting. “I suppose I could,” he says. It might not be so bad, really. He’s not one to attempt to meet new people; meeting his only friend in the entire school, Keyleth, had been at her own expense, but he might as well have a go. This stranger/potential asshole might even be of use to him.

“Oh, good,” Zahra sighs, as though a weight has been lifted from her shoulders. She sinks into the seat across from him, rummaging through her messenger bag for a moment. “Her name is Vex’ahlia. A third year student in stats. I don’t know why, but apparently she’s required to take my course, even though she’s aiming to become a park ranger. Haven’t a clue what she’ll use it for, besides organizing a study on birds or something, but she reached out to me this morning, completely at a loss on what she’s looking at,” she explains, sliding a sheet of paper over to Percy. “Her number and email are there, I’ll leave the meeting times to you.”

Percy slides the paper closer with his index finger, nodding his head in response to Zahra where needed as she speaks.

“If she’s absolutely done for, let me know, but she’s a firebrand, at least from the few times she’s asked me for help,” Hydris wears a fond grin on her lips, eyes glossing over. Percy can’t imagine Zahra being anything but a firebrand at his age, probably had a chain of men behind her, to boot (he quickly wipes that particular mental image from his mind).

“I’ll contact her and see what I can do to help,” he assures, folding the paper and tucking it in the breast-pocket of his shirt.

“Thank you,” for the first time, she has an honest-to-Gods smile on her lips as she looks over to him. Percy can’t help but wonder if he’s truly been initiated as a senior now that he’s earned a smile from Zahra Hydris, but before he can ask aloud, Zahra is standing up and bidding him a good afternoon, bustling down towards the stairs.

Percy considered texting Vex'ahlia then and there, but the moment he flipped opened his ancient mobile, he was distracted by the array of texts from Keyleth, all including a ridiculously appropriate amount of emojis for her personality, and Cassandra, who was hoping that he could pick up dinner from their favorite takeout place.

He’d set up a meeting time later, he supposed. For now, he’d sit, read and pretend that he had no pending judgement to make on Vex'ahlia (still a potential asshole).

A buzz from his phone had him opening it again with a heavy, weary sigh, noting Keyleth had texted him, again (she’s a mother hen and he should expect this, he supposes).

“I’m coming to find you to bestow bagels upon you :)”

He hardly has time to sigh again, mourning the loss of a quiet afternoon of reading before Keyleth is approaching him, one arm precariously holding two sealed cups of what he’s hoping is coffee and the other, a bag of the apparent bagels-to-be.

She nearly spills both as she sinks down into the seat adjacent from him with a loud sigh, dropping the cups towards him and thankfully, it is coffee (how she doesn’t mind the scalding heat against her bare arms is unknown to him, but her dedication to cutting the sleeves off of everything she owns is admirable).

“So, Vax and me talked again,” she tells him with a bob of her head. The look on her face isn’t exactly confident, though Keyleth isn’t very confident to begin with, and Percy knows he’ll be here awhile.

Honestly, he’d never tell anyone, but he’s a little happier to spend the afternoon sitting, listening and pretending that he has no pending judgement to make on Vex'ahlia (the potential asshole).

So I got this idea in my head a week ago and it was like Scanlan sang me a sweet, sweet song about myself for inspiration dice or something because I am totally in love with writing this.

Anyway, I’m not entirely familiar with environmental science majors and I’m sure they don’t actually take statistics, but I also know that colleges love to put you in classes that aren’t your major and then blame you when…yaddayaddayadda. But yeah, don’t expect this to be 100% accurate for a legitimate park ranger hopeful.

Trigger-wise, I don’t think anything majorly /bad/ will be happening in this fic besides the whole stalking aspect. If that changes, I will leave a warning for sure.

As for the use of uber italics with Vex, it’s just how I hear her voice in my head and with Vax and Kiki and Gilmore, welp, who knows what that lil raven rascal will choose?

This is my first Critical Role fic and I’ve no beta, so please tell me how I’m doing! x